Today when my son and I were playing in the rain he told me that he has heard several parents telling their kids “vas a encoger” when they are in the rain. He laughed and said that was just silly. I would have laughed too, but I did not know what it meant. He had [...]

Carpeta is not what you put on your floor to cover up the 1970′s linoleum. A carpeta is a folder, as in something to hold paper. Typically it is a folder with pockets in it. Not a file folder. A file folder is an archivador. The stuff you put on your floor is an alfombra.

I saw camarero the other day and knew by it’s usage that it meant a waiter. But, I don’t think I have ever heard it used. We use the word mesero for waiter here in our part of Mexico.

Morar is not a commonly used word but it is found often in the Spanish Bible. Morar is to live or reside in a place.

Vencer has two main meanings that don’t seem at all connected. One is to defeat or conquer and the other is to expire. When vencer is used to mean defeat or overcome it is used in a straight forward manner. “Bill overcame the temptation” would become “Bill venció la tentación.” It is a transitive verb [...]

As opposed to diving into a swimming pool, clavar, bucear is scuba diving. It is not just scuba diving, but any swimming under water. When you dive while snorkeling it is also called bucear. The sport is called buceo.

A llaga is a sore or wound. I have seen it used in literature to mean a sore that one would have with leprosy. I have heard it used  idiomatically in the phrase, “poner el dedo en la llaga” twice in the last week. It means “to rub salt in the wound,” or “to hit [...]